Syracuse’s past and present serve as the foundation for an art installation in Lipe Art Park. The multimedia work of art will be unveiled to the public 8 to 10 p.m. today at the park, West Fayette and Seneca streets in Syracuse.

For the last three weeks in workshops at the XL Projects art gallery, artists and citizens have discussed the city’s legacy as a stop on the Underground Railroad and its abolitionist movement. Organizers also have recognized the efforts of the Rev. Jermaine Loguen in the artwork. In the early 1850s, Loguen proposed Syracuse become a model “open city.” This designation would make Syracuse a sanctuary for slaves escaping servitude.

Conversations on the effect of Syracuse’s antislavery activities on present day have been the building blocks for the installation, explained artist and organizer Dara Greenwald. The piece is titled “The Great Central Depot in the Open City.” Syracuse had been referred to as the “great central depot” because of its role in the Underground Railroad, said another organizer, Olivia Robinson, assistant professor in fiber arts/material studies at Syracuse University.

Greenwald did not want to discuss details about the art during a phone interview Friday. She did reveal words and images collected from history, and the workshops were the inspiration. “We’d like to surprise people with what the form is,” she said.

Organizers for the workshops and artwork also included The Art School in The Art School and its founder, Joanna Spitzner, who is associate professor of art and design at SU. Greenwald was joined by Josh MacPhee, her partner in Spectres of Liberty, an artist collaborative based in Brooklyn. Funding was provided by the New York State Council on the Arts and philanthropic foundations.

It is fitting the temporary art installation will be placed in Lipe Art Park. Greenwald said the park was once the meeting site for 5,000 abolitionists in the 1850s. “We’re reanimating that site,” she said.

With rain in today’s forecast, organizers will decide this morning whether the installation will be postponed until Sunday. The decision will be posted at Spectres of Liberty.